Most commercial electrical failures give notice. A maintenance routine catches the warm breaker, the loose lug and the failing emergency light before they close your doors.
Monthly checks your staff can do
- Test exit signs and emergency lights with the test button
- Look for damaged cords, overloaded power strips and blocked electrical panels
- Note any breakers that have tripped and what was running
- Check exterior and parking lot lighting after dark
- Listen for buzzing from panels, lights and transformers
Yearly checks for an electrician
- Thermal imaging of panels and switchgear under load to find hot connections
- Tightening terminations to manufacturer torque values
- Testing GFCI devices and exercising breakers
- Inspecting grounding and bonding
- A 90-minute test of battery-backed emergency lighting
- Reviewing the panel directory so every circuit is identified
Industry notes
Restaurants: kitchen equipment is hard on receptacles and cords. Grease, heat and moisture shorten the life of everything, and a failed walk-in cooler circuit can cost a week of inventory.
Offices: growth tends to happen by power strip. When a suite is reconfigured, have circuits added properly. See office electrical installation.
Retail: lighting is your sales tool. An LED lighting retrofit cuts energy use and maintenance calls.
Warehouses and plants: motors, conveyors and compressors benefit from scheduled checks by an industrial electrician.
Plan for outages
Decide what must stay on. A standby generator, battery backup and surge protection for point-of-sale and refrigeration controls can pay for themselves in one prevented loss.
When something fails anyway
KITMUND provides electrical maintenance and 24/7 emergency service for businesses across Utah, including Salt Lake City, Layton, Orem and St. George. Call (888) 633-7804.